ELN TV

The first half of 2017 saw Europe install 6.1GW of new wind energy capacity.

That’s according to new figures released by industry organisation WindEurope, which put the renewable power source on course for a successful year across the continent.

However, much of this investment and development was heavily concentrated in a relatively small number of countries.

A total of 4.8GW of onshore wind capacity was installed in the first half of 2017, with the majority being built in Germany (2.2GW), UK (1.2GW) and France (492MW).

Offshore wind also saw limited involvement, with all 18 projects spread across only four EU Member States (Germany, UK, Belgium and Finland), totalling 1.3GW installed.

Around €5.4 billion (£4.8bn) was invested in onshore and €2.9billion (£2.6bn) in offshore, the latter down from a record high of €14 billion (£12.5bn) in the same period in 2016.

More than half of all wind investments were made in Germany and no offshore investments were made in the UK.

WindEurope Chief Policy Officer, Pierre Tardieu, said: “We are on track for a good year in wind capacity installations but growth is driven by a handful of markets. At least 10 EU countries have yet to install a single MW so far this year.”

He added the end of the UK Renewables Obligation scheme will lead to even greater market concentration in offshore wind in Germany, Spain and France and suggested the low level of finance activity with regards to offshore wind was concerning.